Adequate women’s participation in Tokyo meet sought

KABUL Network (AWN) on Monday asked the government to ensure the inclusion of an appropriate number of women in the official delegation to the upcoming Tokyo conference.

Scheduled to take place in Japan in July, the Tokyo conference is to seek decade-long international assistance for Afghanistan’s infrastructure development projects.  

AWN activists expressed deep concerns at the inadequate role of women in matters of national interest at a two-day workshop that began on Monday, with participants calling for long-term international commitment to development projects to improve the capacity of Afghan women.

The workshop “From Bonn to Tokyo – Afghan Women beyond 2014” is focused on good governance, accountability, peace and reintegration, long-term international commitment and equal job opportunities for men and women.

AWN activists said the workshop was aimed at giving a chance to women to openly discuss their problems and give opinion on their participation in the Tokyo meeting.

AWN Director Samira Hamidi said the Tokyo conference would be a decisive moment for Afghanistan, asking the government to ensure women’s ample participation in the event. She asked the government to give women at least 30 to 40 percent share in government delegations.

Deputy Foreign Minister Jawed Lodin appreciated civil society organisations for conducting such fruitful consultative discussion. He added the international community’s long-term assistance to Afghanistan had entered an extremely sensitive phase.  

Calling the next 10 years a decade of evolution in Afghanistan, he said their cooperation and partnership with the world had reached a final stage, where Afghanistan was moving from transition to evolution.

“The Tokyo summit will discuss economic requirements of Afghanistan over next decade,” he concluded.

mm/ma/mud